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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29156799">Owe You One</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaeStarr/pseuds/TaeStarr'>TaeStarr</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Feels, Blood and Injury, Gen, Whump</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 10:02:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,684</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29156799</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaeStarr/pseuds/TaeStarr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"I believe the words you're looking for are 'thank you, Louie, I owe you one!'"</p><p>Goldie knew that Louie was right, she owed him one. He'd saved her life, after all.<br/>What she didn't know was how soon she'd be returning the favor.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Louie Duck &amp; "Glittering" Goldie O'Gilt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>79</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Another thing that definitely isn't the finale to that other story I keep promising to write the finale for! Hooray!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Goldie could not remember another time that her luck had been quite this rotten. Then again, she’d brought Louie with her on this adventure. That kid seemed to exude bad luck with every ounce of his being. So, of course, Louie’s bad luck caused a cave-in. An unfortunate event, surely, but cave-ins were standard fare for seasoned adventurers like Goldie and Louie.</p><p>But then, that one large rock came hurtling towards her. Louie, bless the kid, managed to react in time, pushing her far enough out of the way to prevent her from being completely flattened, but not far enough away to stop her from getting her arm pinned between that rock and the wall of the cavern. This was a tad more unlucky than usual, but it was still the type of thing Goldie felt confident handling.</p><p>Being stared down by a feral, ferocious, and angry-looking bear with no means of escape was definitely a level of unlucky that Goldie found nearly unfathomable. But here she was, almost completely immobilized in this goddamn cave, seconds away from being torn to shreds by a massive wild beast.</p><p>If Scrooge were here, he’d describe this situation as being “up shit creek without a paddle.” Well, that’s what Scrooge would say if he were here and Louie wasn’t. Scrooge was very mindful not to curse around the kids. Goldie was much less careful. Over the years, Louie had picked up some colorful language, and Scrooge blamed Goldie. Goldie brushed it off. Louie was sixteen years old now! Well into his teenage years! Of course he’d picked up some foul language, most kids do!</p><p>“Hey, dickhead!” Louie shouted, pelting the bear with a few stones from a few dozen feet away. “Leave her alone!”</p><p>The bear ignored Louie’s taunting, shrugging off the rocks he threw like they were house flies. It slowly stalked toward Goldie, letting out an intimidating, low growl. Goldie could see large globs of salvia falling out of its mouth. The thing obviously intended to make a meal of her.</p><p>When the rock hit her, it knocked her satchel off, which landed three or four feet away from where Goldie was now pinned. She definitely had a few things in there that she could use to free herself. The fact that it was <em>just</em> out of her reach – literally two or three inches – was the single most unlucky thing about the whole experience so far. Try as she might, stretching herself until her pinned arm felt like it was about to snap, she just couldn’t reach the damn thing.</p><p>“Louie, you need to get out of here, you can’t take this thing on by yourself!” Goldie called out. In the confusion, Goldie had lost track of Louie, but she assumed he was close enough to hear her. Goldie could take care of herself; Louie, on the other hand, tended to get himself into messes he couldn’t talk his way out of.</p><p>The bear was now close enough that she could smell its putrid breath. She was out of time. She needed to figure out something in the next few seconds or she’d be mincemeat. The bear reared upwards onto its hind legs, raising its massive paw into the air, ready to bring clawed death down upon Goldie.</p><p>Suddenly, a green blur was atop the beast. Louie hopped on the bear’s back, climbing up to its shoulders and wrapping his legs around its neck as he pulled on its ears and tried to gouge its eyes out with his bare hands. Immediately the bear began thrashing about, attempting to buck Louie off like he were a bull rider. Louie eventually found an opportunity and jumped off, hitting the ground and rolling. In one smooth motion he scooped up Goldie’s satchel and tossed it to her before hopping over a well-aimed swipe of the paw.</p><p>“Jesus Christ, kid, be careful! I told you to scram! This thing’s dangerous!” Goldie yelled out as she began to rifle through her satchel with her free arm.</p><p>“I believe the words you’re looking for are ‘thank you, Louie, I owe you one!’” Louie shouted back with gleeful candor. He’d put some distance between himself and the bear, which seemed incensed before but was clearly livid now. With a wild roar, the bear charged Louie, who began to flee with a rather undignified yelp.</p><p><em>“Come on, come on… there has to be something useful here…” </em>Goldie muttered under her breath, frustrated.</p><p>Goldie finally found a useful thing: a small vial with a sparkly red liquid inside of it. She quickly yet gingerly removed the cork with her bill, careful not to spill on herself, spitting the cork to the side and pouring the contents of the vial onto the rock that pinned her to the wall. Instantly, the rock began to shrink, reducing to the size of a pebble in only a few seconds.</p><p>Goldie didn’t stick around to watch the magic at work. As soon as her arm was free, she made a mad dash toward Louie, who was still being pursued by the bear a few dozen yards away.</p><p>And then, in what was undoubtedly the worst stroke of luck yet, Louie tripped.</p><p>Goldie cried out.</p><p>
  <em>“No!”</em>
</p><p>Louie hit the ground on his stomach. He quickly pushed himself off the ground, attempting to get going again, but it was too late. The full force of the bear’s massive claw came down squarely on Louie’s back, shredding Louie’s hoodie and leaving three deep gashes in his back.</p><p>Louie cried out in pain, trying to roll away from his attacker. The bear leaned down and chomped onto Louie’s what was left of Louie’s hoodie, and Louie let out another panicked cry. The bear spent a few moments thrashing him around before the remains of his hoodie finally snapped and he slammed back to the ground. The duck ragdolled a few feet across the stone floor of the cavern before coming to a completely still – too still – stop.</p><p>Goldie watched in horror as the scene unfolded in front of her. She hadn’t been quick enough. With an angry yell, she planted a nasty kick to the side of the bear’s face as it was gearing up to attack Louie again. The animal immediately turned its attention to Goldie, snarling wildly and lashing out with its claw. She jumped back to escape its range, before producing a small orb from her satchel. She threw it at the bear and turned away, covering her ears and shutting her eyes as best she could.</p><p>The orb popped as it impacted the bear’s face, creating a brilliant light and an extremely loud noise that seemed all the louder in the confines of the cavern. Even with her eyes closed and her ears plugged, the bang still slightly disoriented Goldie.</p><p>The bear experienced the full effects of the device and stumbled around wildly before falling onto its side. It began to whip its limbs around in confusion, trying to regain its bearings. Goldie wanted nothing more than to kill the damn thing, but she had much more pressing matters to attend to. Still slightly dizzy, she ran over to Louie and scooped him into her arms, sprinting away before bear could get its wits back.</p><p>“Louie, baby, can you hear me?” Goldie asked as she ran with Louie in her arms. She held him against her chest, with his bill resting on her shoulder. She momentarily cringed at the overly-familiar name she called him before realizing how trivial such a thing was.</p><p>Especially because she received no response.</p><p>Goldie could feel that the feathers on her arms were absolutely soaked with blood, and her clothing wasn’t faring much better. She needed to figure out the severity of his wounds so she could best determine how to address them, but she first needed to get out of the cavern to the relative safety of the surrounding forest. She felt a momentary panic as she moved her hand to Louie’s neck to feel for a pulse. Relief washed over her as she felt a relatively steady beat, despite the blood loss.</p><p>“Kid, you better not die on me…”</p><p>After a few minutes of running, Goldie could finally see daylight. Louie began to stir in her arms. Goldie’s sprint slowed to a walk.</p><p>“Louie? Talk to me, sharpie. I need to know you’re still with me,” Goldie said.</p><p>“Mmmmnnnnn…” Louie groaned in reply. He didn’t seem fully aware yet. Goldie found a small log and set the boy face-down on it, finally getting a chance to assess his wounds with the light of the evening sun.</p><p>Louie was naked, his hoodie torn and the pieces left with the bear in the cave. His back was a grotesque fleshy mess, missing most of its feathers, with three distinct gashes running down from his shoulder blades to just above his waist. The blood made the depth of the wounds impossible to visually discern, but judging by the volume of blood, the wounds were deep.</p><p>“G-Goldie? H-help, it h-hurts…” Louie whined out. Goldie had never heard such fear in his voice before. She’d seen him scared plenty of times (she liked to describe sharpie as “the bravest coward I know”), but this was different. He sounded so weak, so small. Goldie looked over Louie once again as he shuddered in pain, moisture collecting on his eyes. She swallowed heavily.</p><p>“You took a really nasty one for me, sharpie. But you’re going to be alright. I know you’ve been through worse,” Goldie replied, trying to keep her tone as neutral as possible. She didn’t want to betray how internally terrified she was. If Louie knew how unsure she was of his condition, he’d probably panic. That definitely wouldn’t help.</p><p>Louie tilted his head to the side so he could look at Goldie at the edges of his vision. Goldie finally noticed the injuries to his head and face. The bear had slammed him face-first into the stone floor of the cavern, splitting his upper bill right down the middle and giving him a black eye. A large contusion was swelling on his forehead just above that eye. Large patches of feathers were missing all over his face. After taking a few strained breaths, a sly smirk crawled across Louie’s face. “I kn-know you’re lying to me, Goldie. I’ve never gotten myself f-fucked up <em>this</em> badly,” Louie said, following up with a weak chuckle. “And a-another thing: you’re c-covered in my blood. It’s n-not like you to be <em>this</em> bad at lying.”</p><p>Even at a time like this, Louie couldn’t help himself. Goldie decided that it was a positive development that Louie was still trying to banter with her despite his injuries. She wished her mind would stop racing for long enough to form a witty reply. Maybe it would help keep him calm. Goldie looked down and realized that, yes, she was, in fact, drenched in blood. She’d been too distracted to realize it.</p><p>Louie’s demeanor suddenly changed as he winced through a wave of excruciating pain. He tensed up, panting heavily and gripping the log beneath him with all the force he could muster. He let out a pained wail.</p><p>“Oh <em>shit</em> Goldie, it h-hurts,” Louie wheezed. “Hurts w-worse than anything.”</p><p>“I won’t lie to you again, Louie. I have to clean these wounds,” Goldie replied, her words slightly shaky. “That’s going to hurt too.” Louie didn’t immediately reply. Goldie pulled her first aid kit out of her satchel and began to open it.</p><p>Blood was dripping off of each side of the log, pooling beneath it. The air was thick with the smell of it. The surrounding forest was very placid, drenched in golden evening light. It was cool, there was a very slight and gentle breeze… the severely injured duck seemed extremely out of place in the calm environment.</p><p>“Am I going to die, Aunt Goldie?”</p><p>The question caught Goldie flat-footed. The fact that he called her “Aunt Goldie” didn’t help. He usually called her that to annoy her because he knew she didn’t like it. The way he said it this time… it felt like he truly considered her as family. As if he’d prefer to have someone he considered family around if these really were his last moments.</p><p>“Of course not, sharpie, and don’t you dare even <em>consider</em> dying on me,” Goldie replied, trying to feign confidence after an uncomfortable silence. Goldie removed her belt and quickly secured Louie’s wrists together so that he was bear-hugging the log he was laid on. She needed him restrained for what she was about to do. Louie didn’t even seem to notice.</p><p>“You r-really think I’d let your ancient ass outlive me?” Louie said tauntingly.</p><p>Goldie began to irrigate Louie’s back wounds with water before applying a large cloth to soak up the water and blood. Louie screamed bloody murder.</p><p>“Fuck, G-Goldie! That hurts!” Louie protested. He struggled against his restraints, grunting and whining in pain as Goldie cleaned the wounds. “P-Please stop, Aunt Goldie! It hurts!” His high-pitched wails of pain almost made Goldie oblige, but she knew that she must continue. She knew that this was necessary. It might save her sharpie’s life. She needed to do what she could to prevent infection, especially with how long it was going to take to get Louie to a hospital.</p><p>Goldie glanced through the trees at the setting sun. They were at least a half-day’s trek away from the plane, and that’d be without carrying a gravely injured duck the whole way. It’d be too dangerous to continue in the dark. She’d need to cover as much ground as possible with the little remaining light she had, then set up camp. With the wounds cleaned she could tell they weren’t as deep as she initially feared; there was probably some muscle damage, and the force of the paw might’ve broken a few of Louie’s ribs, but she didn’t think the wounds were deep enough to injure any organs.</p><p>With the wounds thoroughly irrigated, she tossed the bloody rag to the side and grabbed a fresh one, applying it evenly to the wound on his back. She freed him from the restraint and sat him up so she could wrap his body in gauze, holding the cloth in place. Louie sniffled and a few tears fell into his lap. For as excruciating an experience this surely was, the boy was maintaining his composure fairly well.</p><p>Goldie was not equipped to treat Louie’s broken bill, nor his concussion. She hoped the latter was only mild, and his relative lucidity seemed to indicate that her hopes were well-placed.</p><p>“Well, kid, all I got in here is some ibuprofen. It isn’t much, but it’ll help a little with the pain,” Goldie said, bringing her palm to Louie’s mouth. She carefully helped him swallow the pills with some water.</p><p>Louie closed his eyes and exhaled shakily. He couldn’t sit up straight without Goldie’s help. He was clearly half-conscious.</p><p>“I need you to stay awake for now, alright sharpie? Promise me you’ll stay awake?” Goldie replied. “We need to get moving. The longer we’re out here is the longer you’re without a doctor.” Goldie kneeled down in front of Louie, who was still seated on the blood-soaked log. “Here, climb on. Arms around my neck.”</p><p>Louie complied, wrapping his arms around Goldie’s neck as she held his legs. Goldie’s instant reaction was to think about how much Louie weighed now; he definitely wasn’t the tiny, sixty-pound, massive-headed ball of feathers he was when she met him. Goldie took a few uncertain steps, trying to acclimate to traversing the uneven terrain of the forest while giving a teenage duck a piggyback ride.</p><p>The pair continued for some time in near silence, save the ambient noises of the forest and the soft crunch of pine needles underneath Goldie’s shoes. Goldie trekked along to the unsteady rhythm of Louie’s laborious breathing. His struggled breaths screamed <em>“I am dying!”</em> and Goldie did her best to ignore them.</p><p>“Do you think Uncle Scrooge is still gonna let us adventure together after this?” Louie suddenly asked.</p><p>“Don’t we have more pressing concerns to worry about, kid?” Goldie replied.</p><p>Louie chuckled weakly. “Yea, I guess we do. Still worries me,” Louie said hoarsely. He swallowed heavily before continuing. “Our adventures together are really fun. I’d miss them.”</p><p>“It’s worrying <em>me</em> that you’re getting all sentimental. You’re not planning to go anywhere, are you?” Goldie teased. Goldie could practically hear Louie roll his eyes in response. She always found bantering with Louie to be entertaining; now it was proving to be immensely stress-relieving. “Besides,” Goldie continued, “the people I’d be worried about are your mom and her brother. Scrooge doesn’t trust me, but he does like me. Those two definitely don’t. And I don’t think this little incident is going to improve my standing with them.”</p><p>“D’yoh boy,” Louie snickered in response, “when Uncle Donald sees the condition you’ve returned me in, he’s going to explode. Go positively nuclear.”</p><p>“Exactly,” Goldie said, stopping for a few moments to rest. She took a swig from her canteen. “The only reason they let me take you on these trips is because they know how much you enjoy them, and they love you much more than they hate me.” She shook her legs to relieve some of her muscle tension before setting off once more through the forest.</p><p>“I wish I could get them to come around. I wish they didn’t hate you,” Louie replied, sounding almost somber. Goldie stopped again. A cutting reply came to mind, but something in her mind stopped her from saying it. There was an awkward moment of silence. “I love mom and Uncle Donald and Uncle Scrooge more than anything in the world, but they…” Louie’s voice trailed off. Goldie wanted nothing more to say something caustic and dismissive to get Louie off of this saccharine subject, but the words just wouldn’t leave her mouth. Louie sighed heavily. “…there are some things about me that I think you understand better than they ever will. Better than even my brothers do.”</p><p>Goldie still couldn’t formulate a coherent response. If she didn’t know any better, she’d almost say she was touched. She didn’t really know the other two triplets very well, but she knew that the three were <em>very</em> close, along with that girl. Louie was spilling his heart out and Goldie <em>hated</em> it, because it meant having to admit that their relationship was more than just transactional. More than just business. It was one of those obnoxious things that called out Goldie’s crass and uncaring façade for what it is: a façade. She really enjoyed the kid’s company, and the fact that she’d let him get hurt (and hurt <em>badly</em>) was eating her alive.</p><p>She’d do <em>anything</em> to make sure Sharpie would live to adventure another day. With or without her.</p><p>Another half hour or so passed with no words exchanged. Goldie trudged on, stopping occasionally to catch her breath and do some leg stretches. Louie seemed to be holding up as well as anyone could reasonably be expected to, given his condition. Goldie would occasionally hear a few sniffles or a few grunts of pain, usually accompanied by Louie’s grip around her collar tightening. Goldie had her fair share of severe injuries under her belt, so she could sympathize with his pain. She was, honestly, very proud of him: she couldn’t imagine very many 16-year-olds suffering through what Louie was suffering through with the same amount of poise. The boy was a trooper, through and through.</p><p>The light of the evening sun had been almost totally exhausted, and the temperature was dropping fast. She felt Louie shiver against her back.</p><p>“G-Goldie, I’m not sure how m-much longer I can hold on…” Louie whispered. He was clearly exhausted.</p><p>“That’s fine, sharpie. We’re out of daylight anyway. We’ll set up camp here,” Goldie replied.</p><p>Goldie set Louie down on a small boulder as she set up the tent before starting a small fire. Louie rested his head against a tree immediately beside the rock and closed his eyes. Goldie prepared some soup over the fire, taking it to Louie in a small paper bowl. She roused the half-asleep duck, offering him some food. He managed to take a few spoonfuls before resting his head back against the tree. He, understandably, didn’t have an appetite right now.</p><p>The bandages around Louie’s body had been completely bled through. Goldie propped the half-conscious duck upright as she removed the bandages, tossing them aside. She grabbed her flashlight and struggled to turn it on; the dried blood in the feathers on her hands made things difficult, to say the least. She only had enough water for her and Louie to drink, but she knew that there was a stream crossing a few hours down the trail. She could wash up then.</p><p>After she finally managed to get the flashlight to turn on, she looked once again at the wounds running down Louie’s back. Blood was still steadily leaking at a pace far too quick for Goldie’s comfort. She soaked some of it up with another rag and was met with a hiss in pain from Louie. She apologized under her breath before wrapping him up in a fresh set of bandages.</p><p>At this point, Louie was definitely more asleep than awake. Goldie carried him to the tent and placed him in the cot she’d set up before covering him with blankets. She needed to get some rest too, but she knew that she wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight. So she kept vigilant watch over the child she’d come to love as her own (though she’d never admit it), each of his pained wheezes compounding her guilt, each of his cold shivers like a knife in her heart.</p><p>As the night went on, the wheezes got more desperate and the shivers got more intense. Goldie numbly watched as Louie’s condition slowly got worse and worse, wondering to herself how she could have possibly let this happen.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This took a turn that I was not expecting when I started writing this chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Oh lad, what’ve ye done to yerself?”</p>
<p>Louie stirred, and instantly wished he hadn’t. Oh <em>god</em>, it hurt. <em>Everything</em> hurt.</p>
<p>“<em>Ursos Arctos Horribilis.</em> The grizzly bear. Easily one of the most dangerous wild animals in the world. According to the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook, attacks on intelligent animals by grizzlies are actually fairly rare, but-”</p>
<p>“-with Louie’s luck, it was bound to happen eventually! God, look at his back! It looks so gross!”</p>
<p>“I hope he’ll be alright…”</p>
<p>“I wouldn’t worry about Louie, Webby. He’s always getting himself hurt, and he always bounces back! Isn’t that right, little bro?”</p>
<p>Louie stirred a little bit more, and regretted it again. He just wanted to fucking rest. Maybe if he ignored them all, they’d go away.</p>
<p>“Aye, Louie’s a strong one. But this… the strongest man in the world could be felled by something like this. And you lot are only sixteen!”</p>
<p>“Aww, come on, Uncle Scrooge! Don’t be such a worrywart! My boy can handle anything the world throws at him! You really think he’d let some stupid bear do him in?”</p>
<p>“There’s some reason for worry, mom. A grizzly bear can put more than one thousand pounds of force behind its claws, and its jaw can exert more than twelve hundred pounds of pressure per square inch!”</p>
<p>“Is that enough to crush a duck’s skull?”</p>
<p>“…yes, Dewey, that’s more than enough to crush someone’s skull.”</p>
<p>“Bad ass!”</p>
<p>There was suddenly a cacophony of voices.</p>
<p>“Eyyyyy-” A distinctly Scottish sound of disapproval.</p>
<p> “Language!”</p>
<p>Louie wanted to move his hands to his ears to cover them, but could not seem to move any part of his body. Whatever. He’d just try to sleep through his annoying family’s annoying conversation. Why did they have to bother him so much when he so clearly just wanted to be left alone?</p>
<p>“We’re lucky that the lad’s still with us at all. This isnae a laughing matter.”</p>
<p>“I don’t like seeing him like this…”</p>
<p>That last voice made Louie’s mind perk up.</p>
<p>“Louie? Louie, please at least acknowledge us. I need to know you’re alive. I need to hear it from your own bill.”</p>
<p>Louie fought for a moment to find his voice. After clearing his throat, he announced, “I’m still kickin’ it, Uncle D.” Louie sat up and felt a wave of pain from his backside. He loudly sucked air through his teeth. “My back hurts like <em>hell</em>, though. I’m legit questioning if it’s worth sticking around, or if I should just give up,” he said sardonically.</p>
<p>Louie’s ears were once again met by a gaggle of disapproving voices.</p>
<p>“Donnae talk like that, son.”</p>
<p>“Come on, Louie, what the heck?”</p>
<p>One voice in particular seemed less offended and more appalled: “I never want to hear you say anything like that ever again.”</p>
<p>A pang of guilt hit Louie’s chest and his expression softened. “Alright, Uncle Donald. I’m sorry,” Louie replied. “Just a little gallows humor.” Louie heard a few more chastising noises from his family, but they all seemed to accept his apology.</p>
<p>“So when are you going to open your eyes?” Webby asked.</p>
<p>Louie found that question odd. He found it odder to discover that, yes, his eyes were closed, and he hadn’t even realized it.</p>
<p>He finally opened his eyes, and it took a few moments for his vision to focus. Louie could instantly tell he was in a very odd location, even before his eyes adjusted. Everything seemed… bright. He was surrounded by an orangish-pink color palate, not unlike the evening sky as the sun dips below the horizon. As the blurriness cleared, his family came into focus. They all wore expressions that definitely betrayed their concern, but they all seemed relatively calm. The first person he locked eyes with was his mother. She gave him a sheepish grin with a wave that Louie thought had a guilty look to it.</p>
<p>“How’s my Rebel holding up?”</p>
<p>“About as well as you’d expect anyone whose entire backside has been fileted would be,” Louie replied sarcastically. He instantly felt remorse. His family was very clearly worried, judging by the looks on their faces, and he was being too aloof (or, in other words, a prick). “I… I’m sorry. I’m just a little on edge, you feel? This hurts <em>a lot</em>,” Louie said, pointing over his own shoulder with his thumb and finishing the sentence with an awkward chuckle. Nobody replied right away.</p>
<p>“We’re sorry we can’t be there for you,” Webby finally spoke up.</p>
<p>“What are you talking about, Webs? You’re all here in front of me!” Louie replied. Louie glanced around again and his bill curled downward in a confused frown. Everyone was standing on a solid white platform of some sort that extended in all directions to the horizon. The “sky” had an orange and pinkish glow to it – almost neon. Louie’s first thought was that the aesthetic was extremely vaporwave-y. “Where are we, anyway?”</p>
<p>“You tell me,” Dewey replied. “This is <em>your</em> psyche, after all!”</p>
<p>“Wait, what?”</p>
<p>“Yup. All in your weird head!”</p>
<p>Louie brought his wing to his chin. “Does that mean…?” Louie pondered aloud to himself. There were a few moments of awkward silence.</p>
<p>
  <em>“Fuck!”</em>
</p>
<p>Everyone suddenly turned to Huey, who looked absolutely horrified. He was covering his bill with his hands. Louie chuckled to himself.</p>
<p>Scrooge cleared his throat to end the awkward silence. “…Lad?”</p>
<p>“I… I’m sorry, everyone. I don’t know what came over me,” Huey muttered, sounding like he’d just killed a man. “It won’t happen a- <em>SHIT!”</em></p>
<p>Huey grabbed his own bill forcefully, looking absolutely horrified again. This time Louie was practically rolling on the floor, laughing so hard that tears were forming at the corners of his eyes. Dewey’s eyes went wide with realization. “That was you, wasn’t it, Louie?! Ha! Great bit! Ten out of ten! Using your own brain to your advantage!”</p>
<p>“That is <em>not funny!”</em> Huey shouted. “Aren’t you supposed to be dying or something? Isn’t this meant to be your brain’s way of making peace with your loved ones?”</p>
<p>“I think it’s pretty funny, Huey. He got you pretty good!” Dewey said. He put his hand up as if wanting a high five from Huey, but Huey just gave him an unimpressed look in response. Louie was staring at Dewey and covering his bill, trying not to burst into laughter.</p>
<p>“He made you shorter, Dewey,” Huey said matter-of-factly.</p>
<p>Dewey looked down at his own body before comparing himself to Huey. Dewey was now a solid three inches shorter than his brothers. His jaw slowly fell open. “How… <em>dare<strong>…</strong></em> you…”</p>
<p>Louie finally lost his composure and began laughing maniacally, unable to help himself. He was having a lot of fun with this! It was almost enough to completely distract him from the pain.</p>
<p>“Yea, yea, laugh it up, <em>Lou</em>-ser,” Dewey spat. “Bet you won’t be laughing when you slip into a coma!”</p>
<p>Louie stopped laughing instantly. “Wait, coma?”</p>
<p>“We’ll have to explore this newfound revelation later, Louie,” Huey replied, “because now it’s time to wake up.”</p>
<p>Louie stared blankly at his brother. Huey nodded and gave a shooing gesture with his wrist, as if telling Louie to get on with it.</p>
<p>Louie blinked, and in that fraction of a second, everything changed. His vision was much, much blurrier. He couldn’t seem to focus on any one object. He was laying down on an extremely cold surface as a blonde-haired blur disassembled the campsite.</p>
<p>“Mmnnnn… Goldie? I’m cold.”</p>
<p>Goldie froze, throwing a quick glance over her shoulder back at Louie. After just a moment’s hesitation, she was at Louie’s side. She sat him upright.</p>
<p>“Sharpie, are you awake? Here, let me… let me get you a blanket.” Goldie quickly found a large wool blanket and draped it over his shoulders. Louie met Goldie’s gaze with his own. She was still caked in dried blood. She had dark bags under her eyes. She looked completely disheveled.</p>
<p>“Did you sleep at all, Goldie?” Louie asked. “Frankly, you look awful.”</p>
<p>Goldie stood there for a second, staring at Louie blankly. She eventually gave a sort of half-snort, half-chuckle. “I wish I had a mirror, kid. Take my word for it: you’re not winning any beauty contests right now, either.”</p>
<p>“I’m more ‘handsome’ than ‘beautiful’ anyway,” Louie replied. He wrapped the blanket around himself tightly and laid on his side. He was out nearly instantly. Goldie continued to stand in the same spot, dumbfounded at the exchange she’d just had. The kid hadn’t given her any signs of consciousness or alertness in nearly twelve hours, and when he finally did, it was to call her ugly and immediately fall unconscious again.</p>
<p>Goldie found it extremely on-brand.</p>
<p>“Louie? You still with me, bud? It’s time to get moving again.”</p>
<p>No response. Shit. She’d need to figure something else out.</p>
<p>Goldie eventually jury-rigged a piggyback system where she tied Louie’s ankles together with his legs around her waist and tied his wrists together around her collar. It wasn’t the most comfortable arrangement, but it would have to do. As the morning sun finally peaked over the ranges to the east, Goldie hit the trail. If all went well, she could have Louie at a hospital before evening.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>---</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Something caused Louie to awaken with a startle. He quickly pushed himself off the ground into a seated position. Surrounding him was a dark, purple void. He brought himself to his feet. All he could see was a vast sea of purple nothingness stretching into the distance, maybe yards away, maybe miles.</p>
<p>The distinct noise of TV static caught his attention, causing him to turn around. A few dozen feet in the distance, Louie could see a small antennae television set on the ground, the screen no larger than twenty inches. Most of the screen was obscured from Louie’s view by the silhouette of a sofa. It took Louie maybe fifteen seconds to meander his way to the strange furniture. He placed a hand on the frame of the couch and peered over at the TV set. Loud static blared from the speakers, and the message “NO SIGNAL” blinked repeatedly on the screen in green letters over a mess of white and grey noise.</p>
<p>Louie looked down and did a double take when he saw himself. There was another Louie, slouched low on the cushion. Louie quickly felt up and down his own body to reassure himself of his own existence before looking back at the doppelganger slouching lazily in the couch. The other Louie glanced up and Louie locked eyes with him. No words were exchanged. The other Louie simply patted the cushion next to him, offering Louie a place to sit. Louie walked around the arm of the sofa and obliged.</p>
<p>The doppelganger produced a remote from thin air and pointed it at the television. The static ceased and an image appeared on the screen. Louie leaned inward and squinted to try and make out what was happening on the small screen. The audio quality was abysmal, but Louie could tell he was hearing his own panicked voice through the speakers. With a start, Louie realized that the footage was from inside the cavern where he was attacked by the bear.</p>
<p>“Where the hell did you get this footage?” Louie demanded of his copy. The other Louie, still slouched as low as possible in the sofa, simply gestured back to the screen, as if demanding Louie continue to watch. Louie turned back to the screen to see himself (or, a version of himself) backed up against the wall of the cavern with no means of escape, the bear slowly advancing.</p>
<p><em>Wait a minute, this isn’t how it went down… </em>Louie thought to himself. He glanced back at his couch double, who once again gestured back to the screen, more forcefully this time. There was clearly some anger behind the action.</p>
<p>“Alright, alright, fine, I’m watching,” Louie spat at the other Louie, rolling his eyes as he turned back toward the TV screen. Just as he focused on the screen, the bear lunged forward at the third Louie on the TV set, wrapping its jaws fully around his head. That Louie began to scream in terror, trying pry the jaws off his head with his arms, his legs swinging wildly.</p>
<p>“Jesus Christ!” Louie exclaimed, horrified at what he was witnessing. He turned back to his doppelganger on the couch, whose expression changed from wholly disinterested to clearly livid when Louie stopped watching.</p>
<p>“I don’t want to watch this,” Louie said meekly, suddenly fighting the urge to vomit. A sickening <em>crunch</em> noise came from the speakers and Louie braved a look. He wished he hadn’t. The bear had crushed the skull of the third Louie between its jaws, and a massive amount of blood was flowing from the jaws of the beast, down the now-limp body and hoodie of the unfortunate duck, and dripping to the floor. The bear eventually released its grip on the body, which fell unceremoniously to the floor of the cavern. Louie caught a glimpse of his own disfigured face on the screen before turning away, suppressing a gag.</p>
<p>“Fucking hell, <em>turn it off!”</em> Louie demanded, lunging for the other Louie on the couch and taking the remote. He quickly found the power button and the TV set switched off. The room went dark for a moment before the TV booted itself back to life, once again displaying “NO SIGNAL” and spitting static.</p>
<p>The doppelganger Louie looked incensed. It looked him in the eye and stood up straight, towering over Louie for a moment. Louie suddenly felt a weight land in his lap, and quickly realized it was the decapitated head of the doppelganger, which had rolled forward off its neck. Louie screamed and hopped over the back of the sofa, letting the separated head and body of the other Louie hit the floor at the foot of the sofa. He began to run in a random direction, into the inky purple void, not daring to look back.</p>
<p>Sufficiently far away, Louie fell to the floor and hugged his knees. He rocked back and forth, trying to calm himself. “What the <em>fuck</em> is happening?” he muttered to himself weakly, fighting back tears. He sat there and cried into his knees.</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>Goldie found her progress slower than she’d hoped. It was past midday, and she was only now reaching the stream crossing, which she’d figured was about halfway between where the plane was parked and where she’d set up camp the previous night. She untied Louie from herself, setting him on a small boulder beside the stream while she took a dip, finally rinsing all of the blood out of her clothes and her feathers. It didn’t all come out – she figured she’d need a hot shower and some feather shampoo to get it out of her feathers, and her clothes were probably stained beyond repair.</p>
<p>She returned to where she’d set Louie to find him muttering weakly to himself. She couldn’t make out anything he was saying; it was mostly gibberish. Goldie noticed that he was sweating. She carried him to the water’s edge and cleaned his brow with cool stream water, which simply succeeded in making him twist his face in discomfort. Goldie sighed. There truly wasn’t anything she could do for him besides getting him professional medical care as quickly as possible.</p>
<p>“Louie, can you hear me?” Goldie asked. Louie tilted his head back slightly and groaned before his head went limp again, his head hanging with his chin against his chest. It definitely wasn’t a fully coherent response, but it was something. Goldie found a smidge of comfort in the fact that she got <em>some</em> reply, even if it could only <em>barely</em> be classified as a reply.</p>
<p>After eating a granola bar, she hoisted Louie onto her back again. “Don’t worry, sharpie, we’ll have you at the hospital in no time…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>---</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Louie woke once again. He slowly pushed himself off the floor, wiping the heaviness from his eyes with his sleeve. He suddenly remembered his experience with the doppelganger and looked around frantically. He was no longer in that inky void. In fact, he was back in the warmly-colored world he’d seen his family in earlier. But the colors were no longer quite as warm. The lovely evening colors had faded slightly, as if time had progressed and it was now twilight instead of evening. Oranges and pinks had been replaced by blues and purples.</p>
<p>In the distance he could see a large, ornate door. It appeared to be made of iron, with an intricate design of curved iron rods decorating its front. Louie approached slowly, and as he got closer, the doors parted slightly. Bright, white light spilled from the space between the doors, bright enough for Louie to block it from getting in his eyes with his forearm. A figure stepped through from the other side and stopped.</p>
<p>“This is not the way you want to go, Sharpie.”</p>
<p>Louie pulled his arm back from his eyes and let his vision adjust. “…Goldie? Can you tell me what the hell is going on?”</p>
<p>Goldie crossed her arms. “I’m not going to let you pass. Turn around.”</p>
<p>“Goldie, I know this isn’t anything new, but I have no idea what’s going on and I am scared as <em>hell</em>,” Louie rambled quickly. “I just want to go <em>home</em>.”</p>
<p>“This isn’t the way home, kid. Turn around and walk.”</p>
<p>Louie grabbed at his eyelids and groaned. “Will someone please just tell me <em>what the hell is going on?</em> Another me made me watch <em>another </em>me get his skull crushed by a grizzly bear and then the head of the first copy fell off and into my lap and I touched it and it was gross as <em>hell</em> and now I’m here and…”</p>
<p>Louie suddenly remembered his brother’s words from earlier.</p>
<p>“…I’ve slipped into a coma, haven’t I?”</p>
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